Sales Force Automation
Sales force automation (SFA) is used loosely throughout the industry and
means different things to different people. Basically, SFA includes all of
the technologies, techniques, and strategies on which successful sales are
built. It's an activity that brings you together with your customers and
improves communications and productivity. Customer resource management (CRM)
falls under this umbrella.
The goal of SFA is to streamline the entire sales process in order to make
businesses more efficient, to improve customer interactions, to increase
overall customer satisfaction, to and save time and money.
Customer Relationship Management
Managing sales data and processes can be simplified using today's software
solutions. These products automate nearly all of the tasks that salespeople
and their support staffs once performed manually. As a category, these
products are generally referred to as customer relationship management (CRM)
solutions.
CRM applications started as simple contact-management software that
salespeople ran on their PCs. Then vendors began to develop products that
automated a larger number of processes and tied together all of the sales
data across the organization into one comprehensive source.
Though the features of a CRM solution can vary from product to product,
there are a few industry-standard functions:
• Contact manager. A CRM solution must have a powerful yet easy-to-use
contact manager to track sales leads; it should give you instant access to
relevant information about your clients.
• Marketing encyclopedia. This feature includes base of information about
different vertical industries, competitors, and products. It's a valuable
tool that diminishess research time and informs you of your clients' needs.
• Forecasting module. The forcasting module lets you analyze where and when
leads are generated. This information helps you to determine how to spend
advertising and marketing budgets in the future.
When looking for a CRM solution, these features aren't necessarily standard,
but you may find them helpful:
• Localization support. This is an excellent feature if you have
international customers. A CRM product with localization will automatically
convert data, such as currency information, to its foreign equivalent. Add a
rate-of-exchange feed, and you can get automatic and up-to-date exchange
rates for world currencies.
• Support for mobile devices. Not all CRM software includes support for
personal digital assistants, but if your salesforce uses Palm organizers or
Windows CE devices and needs access to CRM modules, look for software that
offers connectivity options for popular handhelds.
• A Web-centric approach. Like many other applications, CRM solutions are
becoming Web-based. This means that they are built entirely on Web
technologies, and you can access them through a Web browser. These
applications are generally more affordable, easier to implement, and simpler
to maintain than their client-server counterparts.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) vs. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
CRM and ERP both offer ways to automate processes and run your business more
efficiently.
However, the systems were originally designed to streamline different
functions.
CRM solutions are used to manage contacts, accounts, opportunities,
activities, marketing, customer support, and many other sales and
service-related processes. CRM calls for knowledge of business needs and
customer demands.
ERP is a system of managing operations and business functions, which include
product planning, purchasing, inventory, customer service, order tracking,
and other back-end business processes. ERP requires knowledge of financial
and manufacturing processes.
The lines between CRM and ERP are beginning to blur as ERP vendors
incorporate CRM functions into their software and CRM vendors add ERP
capabilities to their offerings. Both industries are working to develop
all-in-one applications to streamline internal operations and customer
activities.
Web-Enabled vs. Web-Based CRM Solutions
Although Web-enabled and Web-based customer relationship management (CRM)
applications are similar, there are some fundamental differences.
• Web-Enabled Solutions. In the rush to develop products that deliver sales
force automation features through a simple browser interface, quite a few
CRM vendors have added browser front ends to their products in order to make
their software "Web-enabled." Many have integrated e-mail management
features, call center support, and e-commerce applications into their
software; however, their products are based on client-server technology not
Web technology.
Web-Based Solutions. Other vendors are building true Web-based applications
that utilize the Web as part of their platforms. With these solutions, you
don't need to distribute software to all of your employees because the
application runs over the Internet. Generally, Web-based applications are
cheaper and easier to manage than their client-server-based counterparts.
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